


Getting There (Eventually)

by moronicgoo



Category: The Wilds (TV 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Comfort, Dot and shelby are bestfriends, Dot is the best Aunt, F/F, Fatin Toni and martha are a squad, Shelby is a teen mom, Toni is sad, but shes gotta work through stuff, it will be happy later, itll be cute i promise, past trauma, toni is good with kids
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-13 11:35:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29028066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moronicgoo/pseuds/moronicgoo
Summary: After a few rough years, Toni moves back in with her childhood bestfriend. Martha and Fatin have been doing their bests to help Toni but somethings are just beyond their ability. Toni is stuck and she's not sure that there's a way out. New hope comes in the form of their new neighbors, Shelby Goodkind and her son, and of course his favorite aunt, Dottie. Shebly is just trying to give her son the world but the world is a little too mean.All the girls are just trying to find their place in this world, but Toni isn't sure whether she's getting there or getting in the way.
Relationships: Shelby Goodkind/Toni Shalifoe
Comments: 11
Kudos: 114





	1. Stuck

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic on here, so its very nice to meet y'all. I love this show and I though of this while going through a pretty rough time so please enjoy!  
> Contact me at moronicgood on tumblr!

“Your new neighbors are lesbians.”

“What?” Toni yawns, whipping the sleep from her eyes as she begins walking over to the window. She pauses after a few steps and turns towards Fatin who was lounging on the couch swiping on her phone. Toni assumes it’s tinder simply because the other girl looks like she's thinking before each movement. “Why the fuck are you here?”

“I just thought I’d stop by to check in and see if you wanted to get lunch? I guess it would be breakfast for you but-” Toni doesn't even let her finish, producing an eye roll from the other girl. 

“Martha sent you. Im fucking fine, you know. I'm not gonna burn the place down everytime she leaves for work.” Toni’s fists clench as she speaks, crushing the pack of cigarettes which had been the entire reason she left her room. Martha always complained when she smoked in the house and Toni was not in position to argue over house rules, so she promised to stop. So the routine for the few weeks she’d been back living in her best friend’s spare bedroom had been leaving the room long after Martha left for work to smoke on the porch until she got too cold and then napping on the couch until Martha came home. Martha would then make them play Uno or watch a movie while questioning Toni’s well being with too many sighs for Toni to bear. Toni would then go outside to smoke again. Waiting until she see’s Martha's light shut off upstairs to re-enter. Her therapist had recommended a routine months ago and he got one. 

“Youre such a fucking aries.” Fatin joked as she stood up, “Just so you know, it's kinda hard to believe you're fine when you look like you’ve never heard of running water. Jesus, when was the last time you took a shower.” 

“Probably around the last time you didn’t take a frat boy home” Toni retorts and proceeds to the kitchen with Fatin trailing close behind. Toni reaches into a cabinet to bring down cereal as fatin opens the fridge.

“You’re out of milk.” The taller girl turns around, “Toni are those fruity pebbles?”

Toni responded by shoveling a handful of dry cereal into her mouth. Fatin scrunches her nose in disgust. Toni continues to eat as she starts looking through the pale blue drawers. Martha’s kitchen was small but well lived in. Toni still remembers exactly where everything goes. She memorized it years ago so she could help Mrs. Blackburn makes cookies for christmas. She fried her first egg in this kitchen with a 11 year old martha teaching her how to avoid shells. It's still the only thing she knows how to make but Toni isn’t sure she’d be able to manage it at the moment. So she settles on dry cereal and, if she can find the damn lighter, cigarettes. After a few seconds of searching she begins to get frustrated, slamming drawers and cabinets as she looks. Eventually, she finds herself in front of Fatin who places the hot pink lighter in her hand with a smirk but doesn't say anything.

-

“Wait, did you say the neighbors were lesbians?” Toni says as she looks away from the TV. They came back to the living room after Toni finished smoking the few surviving cigarettes in her pack. Fatin had been on her phone most of the time while Toni watched family guy reruns and tried to ignore the fact she had a babysitter.

“Well yeah. It's two girls and one of them is wearing cargo pants. Looked fucking gay.”

“Not all lesbians look like that. I don't own a single pair of cargo anything. I’ve got my own swag.”

“I wouldn’t call ear basketball shorts and sweats swag. But its definitely still gay, just a different breed. You should probably change soon though. Martha is making us go over there later.”

Toni instantly stiffens. Fatin speaks again, before she could protest.

“She said you'd have to have a triple therapy session next week if you don't go to one different place this week. Before you go getting mad at her, Dr. Young said he’d ask her directly if you went anywhere and that girl cannot lie to save a puppy so there's no use in fighting.” She glances at Toni’s fists. “And also don't punch the messenger because I cannot deal with a bruise right now.”

By the end of her sentence, Fatin is talking to an embroidered goat on one of Martha’s decorative pillows. She hears the sound of a punching bag hitting a wall and, a few seconds later, the heavy bass of Black Skinhead starts to shake the foundation. 

-

“Is she going?” Martha's first words as she returns home are directed at Fatin, who was still on the couch swiping through.

“Well she knows she-”

“I’m not fucking deaf. So either talk to me about me or fuck off.” She moves to slam her hand, but her fist stops only a centimeter above the table.  _ The energy is out, you don't need the impact. _ Dr. Young’s voice replay’s in her head. She hated when he said shit like that but his voice was weirdly calming. It helped sometimes, but mostly because she hates when Martha flinches. She always has. She doesn’t like that Martha is always reacting to Toni in fear and Toni hates that she can’t always tell if it’s of her or for her. Fatin on the other hand, seems to be the only one who just ignores it all. Toni’s fist could be in her face and she’d just roll her eyes. Toni never hit either of them though. Not on purpose at the very least. 

She’s hit plenty of other people for them. For Fatin, it's been mostly boys who don’t understand consent and the many girlfriends of Fatin’s one night stands. But fatin tends to fight her own battles. Martha, on the other hand, Toni was always defending. She’d take down men double her size. Teachers at schools who were less than accommodating or far too creepy. If Martha was hurt, Toni was there kicking ass. At least she used to be. But now, she stays home and her battles come to her. She knows the only person hurting Martha is her and honestly if it wouldn’t destroy the girl, Toni would just get out of her life again.  _ But you tried that, and it didn’t work did it? _ Dr. Young should shut up.

-

Martha holds her hand as they make the short walk to the house. Toni doesn’t like the look she gets stops just before the first step. The house has white siding and black shutters that seemed to have almost rusted off. Toni doesn’t hate it as much as she thought she would but she’d still rather be in Martha's spare room working out or staring at the ceiling than waiting for her inevitable freak out. The house is okay at a distance, but she knows it will be all wrong and she wont feel good and then she’ll get the pity glances and then she’ll leave and then Martha will have to apologize for her. Again.

Martha hasn’t even rang the doorbell yet and Toni's nails were already digging deep in her palm. The jacket she should be wearing had sleeves long enough to over her hands. At the thought of the cartman jacket, her fists close impossibly tighter. It's another thing that is not right. Just as she begins to think she’s accidentally drawn blood, the white wood panel door swings open revealing two pairs of the bluest eyes she's ever seen.


	2. Beers and Backstories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The neighbors (and Fatin) begin to get to know eachother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi yall, sorry this took longer than i wanted. I hope you guys enjoy. Thank you so much for all the support! Im posting this at 4am so sorry for any errors <3

“Oh goodness! Hello, Y’all must be the neighbors!” Toni can’t remember the last time she heard a southern accent that didn’t come from a TV. “Please come in. It's a bit of a mess, moving and all, but please make yourself at home. I’ll go get Dottie and put James down.” 

Toni waits until the blonde ponytail disappears from the room to turn to her best friend. “Marty, how did she know we were coming?”

“I ran into Dot this morning and she invited us for drinks. They’re both texan. Isn't that cool?” Martha’s enthusiasm was wasted on the other girl. Fatin offers her a supportive smile but Toni just stares unnamused. She was told it would be only a few minutes not a full on hang out.”

“Come on Toni,” Martha gives a look. It was the same look Toni got in the 7th grade when Martha begged her to go to the winter formal so the other girl wouldn’t go alone. She got the look everytime Martha wanted to go to the fancy mall an hour away even though neither of them could ever afford that shit. The same look Martha gave her every Christmas when she wanted to go see Santa at the mall, despite being way too old. Every Christmas if Toni ignored the past two years. _You can’t change the past_. Toni rolled her eyes when Dr. Young said it. Yet here she was, repeating it to gain courage to meet some strangers because of the damn ‘look’.

The blonde not being in the room makes it easier for her to take in her surroundings. There are stuffed animals and blocks in a pile on the floor next to the couch. The couch is an ugly brown and seems worn down like the one at Martha's place. The floor was a dark red carpet and Toni doesn’t like the way the heels of her boots sink into it. It reminds her of the hotel room she spent too many nights in. So she walks on her toes. _Find small fixes._ She lets out a heavy sigh and Fatin somehow interprets that as an invitation to pull her over to the couch that lacks Martha's throw pillows that are waiting for her nextdoor. 

“Chill okay, half an hour tops. Then you can go back to fruity pebbles and cartoons. I’ll fake period cramps if you need me to, okay?” Fatin offers Toni a smile which Toni just nods. She opens her mouth to object to basically being called a child when a woman, who she assumes is “Dottie”, walks carrying a case of beer. Fatin was not kidding about the cargo shorts.

“Hey Martha and Martha's people, I'm glad y’all showed up. Shelbs is putting James to bed but she’ll be back out in a minute.” The beer is placed on the floor in front of the couch as its own collapses into a green armchair to the right of the couch.“I’m Dot, by the way.”

“I’m Fatin. I'm not your neighbor, I just eat their food and make sure Toni is constantly annoyed,  
“ she gestures to the scowling girl next to her. “Im very talented.”

“I’m Toni, obviously. I would not use the word talented when describing her but she definitely does her job.” 

“Fun,” Dot chuckles. “So its just you and Martha over there?”

“Uh- yeah. Just me and Marty” Toni was embarrassingly uncomfortable with a stranger talking to her. Thankfully, Martha chimes in.

“Well, the house is my mom’s but she lives with my step dad so we just rent from her but me and Toni have always lived in Hopewell Lake. Toni actually just moved back in, like, a month ago.” Martha smiles but Toni knows the weight of the phrase “Back in”. _So, you regret leaving?_ Toni almost broke Dr. Young’s nose because his question had seemed so dumb. She should regret it but she isn’t always sure she does. She definitely hates how it all ended up. She hates that she’s Martha’s burden again. She hates that she has court ordered therapy. She hates how she can’t always leave her house. Regret is more complex than hate. Regret requires Toni to truly remember how she got here. It’s a deep dive into the mess that has been the past 2 years. That was introspection that simply was not possible on Dot and Shelby’s couch.

“Hi there,” The other armchair, the final seat, is now filled with the same blonde from before. She’s wearing a different sweater and no longer has a child attached to her side. “Im Shelby, I hope Dottie hasn't said too much about me just yet.”

“Oh don't worry, I just told them you still wet the bed and can’t swim.” Dot deadpans earning a laugh from the girls and a nod of approval from Fatin.

“Gosh you’re awful.” She reaches over to hit Dot’s arm, the bright smile never leaving her face. 

“So how long have you two been together?” Martha asks, making Dot laugh again. Shelby blushes, her smile wavering enough for Toni to notice. 

“Oh god, no. Me and Dot- I- We would never.” Shelby stutters out.

“Do you have a fucking problem with it?” Toni asks, sending a cold glare towards the blonde. The glare is unwavering and she notices Shelby shift in her seat.

“No, it's not that- I dont have- I’m literally a lesbian. It’s just weird that everyone thinks that. She’s like my sister.” Toni relaxes, slightly embarrassed for having a wrong assumption.

“I get that. In highschool, most people assumed me and Martha were dating.” Toni offers the blonde an apologetic smile. Shelby seems to soften at the other girl’s words most likely because they were the only words Toni had said to her that weren’t accusational. _People generally have adverse reactions to your aggression. Have you noticed this pattern?_ Toni rarely laughed in therapy, she mostly sat straight faced waiting for the hour to end. But when Dr. Young had asked if she had noticed that people didn’t like her when she got angry, she laughed. It had actually been enough to make her smile in that damn office. The smile held bitter feelings but the hilarity of asking a girl who’s lost nearly everything if she noticed the pattern made her laugh.

“It's the cargo pants.” Fatin points out. “I assumed you two were married because of the kid and the cargo pants.”

“You making that assumption because of JT, I get. Not too many moms out there living with their best friend at 20. But my cargo pants are for storage.” Fatin scoffed.

“Yeah storing power tools and vibrators.” Shelby choked on her beer and Martha reached over a loudly laughing Toni to smack Fatin.

“I use these pants at work, which happens to only sometimes deal with both of those things. I'm an EMT. I have some fucked up stories.” Dot laughed when fatin’s eyes widened in excitement. “One time this guy had shoved a light buld in his-”

“Okay! That's enough.” Shelby sends Dot a pointed look. “Let’s not discuss all that grossness and instead get to know our neighbors better.”

“I cannot stress this enough. I do not live in that house. If I did, Toni would have straight up murdered me after the first week.” Martha and Toni nod making the rest laugh. “But id we are going to get to know eachother better, I gotta ask, where the fuck did the kid come from. You’re gay right? So was it immaculate conception or what?” Toni notices Shelby tense and all the annoyance fatin has been causing her all day spews out.

“Jesus Fatin, what if its a sensitive fucking topic.”

“No, its alright. Its kinda hard to avoid meeting people anyway.” Shelby sends toni a thankful smile, “My daddy was always way too overbearing and I just- I couldnt be gay. So I tried-”

“Dick.” Fatin offers earning a harsh glare from Toni.

“Yes, that. My boyfriend had been pressuring me and I guess it was a small rebellion too. Like I couldn’t be me but I could do something else to get back at my parents anyway. But it really backfired.” A laugh escapes the blonde’s lips. “My parents certainly weren't happy when I told them I was pregnant. My daddy was gonna make me get married. But Andrew- he told his parent’s it wasn't his.I don't know how, but my daddy believed him. He kicked me out. My mom had to beg him to let me stay until I found another place to live. I had to drop out and start waitressing and then God gave me Dottie.” After realizing how much she had spoken, Shelby shook off the tension she had built up and smiled back at the girls. “Im sorry, that was an awful lot to share. I really should get out of the house more.” Toni could relate to her last statement but definlt was the opposite of an oversharer.

“No, Shebly, it’s sweet you opened up.” Martha had the gift of instantly making people feel safe. It worked on everyone. “How did you guys end up in Minnesota? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“We kind of got a deal on the house. A girl I knew,” the blonde’s smile faltered as she spoke, ”Becca, her grandma owned the house and it had been on the market for a while so it was much less than it could have been. We really were blessed.” Dott squeezed Shelby's hand.

“Still rough you ended up in Minnesota though. I mean no offense guys but I ended up here because my parents hate me. You had a whole 49 to pick from. And you chose this.” Fatin gesture to the window where snow was now heavily falling. “But this neighborhood just got a lot better. Everyone else is old and boring. You guys at least have alcohol.” Fatin laughed. 

“Glad to provide. Now yall know enough about us, what's yall’s deal?” Dot asked.

“Well me and Toni met in 3rd grade when-” Martha begins.

“Woah Marty. Do you gotta share that story?” Toni send’s Martha a pleading look.

“Yes, they gotta know how soft you are” Martha sends Toni a teasing look as the other girl buries her head in her hands. “She was picking flowers to give to our teacher because Toni had a huge crush on her.”

“Aw little Shalifoe was a simp.” All the girls laughed and Fatin received yet another glare from toni.

“Fuck you. I just thought she was hot, I bet I could so pull her now.” Toni smirked as Martha hit her shoulder.

“Ew Toni she's like 60 now.”

“She was a total milf you cant even deny it.”

“What's a milf?” All eyes turned towards the blonde and the other girls instantly bursted out into laughter. “I'm serious. What is that?”

Fatin was the first to gather herself enough to talk. “Oh Honey, youre a milf. Mom I woud fuck. I mean seriously how do you look like that and have a kid?”

“Gosh, uh, exercise?” Shelby was still processing the vulgarity of Fatin. “What did you mean your parents hated you?”

“I did not like that transition from milfs to my parents,” Fatin jokes. “But I kinda fucked up my senior year and they sent me here to live with my cousins for discipline or something. Then I met Shalifoe when she totalled my car-” Fatin is cut off by the sound of a bottle hitting the floor.

“Fuck you.” The white front door they had entered from slams in Toni’s wake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the love this fic has gotten so far has made me so happy. I will hopefully update next wednseday (No promises tho, school is hard) If you have any questions or comments or just wanna be my friend my tumblr is moronicgood. Please be nice to yourselves and try to give/get a hug soon. We ALL need it.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope yall enjoyed! You'll actually meet them all next chapter. Please leave comments id love to hear what you guys think! Also pressure me to write please!  
> Have a great day & be nice to yourself!


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